Fire Emblem: The Element Mages
by RockStarZ Inc
Summary: A fun filled and humorous story of a band of mercenaries finding what they thought they've lost, including some subtle humor, some not so subtle humor, and a touch of romance as well as the usual Fire Emblem action.
1. Prologue & Chapter 1

**FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES **

**A/N: This is the first of many revised chapters in this story, I hope to have it completely finished soon.**

**I don't own Fire Emblem.**

**Prologue:**

The Laguz and the humans have been mortal enemies as long as anyone can remember, and the death of a particularly important ambassador in Gallia was the final straw. The people of Beginon invaded Gallia's capitol, thinking the death was planned. Thus began the Great War.

Three young and abandoned mercenaries from Crimea moved to Gallia in hopes of finding small, manageable jobs, but found only war. They joined the royal guard and were soon shipped away on assignment to protect another nameless, faceless government official.

They set off at the sides of their fellow countrymen destined for Goldoa, a home to the mighty dragon tribe. Like the beasts of Gallia, the members of the dragon tribe transform for battle and become beasts of immense power. These people, along with the bird tribes, are known as Laguz.

Almost immediately, the small escort fell under attack by the Begnion army.

**Chapter 1: Unlikely Victory**

It was growing dark one foggy night on the road to Goldoa. Three soldiers, younger than the rest, were walking behind the main group, talking to each other. They seemed slightly out of place as if they didn't know anyone and did not particularly want to be there in the first place. They were small and looked a little weak compared to the hardened soldiers they were traveling with. Just ahead of them walked a horse bearing a thin and delicate-looking man in a suit and tie. He wore glasses and looked as if he would pass out then and there, despite the short distance they had traveled in the last hour.

The children were rather particular. Holly, the first soldier, was a Pegasus Knight with long, brown hair and amber eyes that seemed to glow in the lantern light. She wore thin armor and a tabard with the crest of the Royal Gallian Guard upon it. Another girl, Furu, was a Sword Knight with short cropped blonde hair and very pale eyes. She held a disposition that gave the impression that she was always in disagreement, and would take on the world at the drop of a hat. The boy, Chii, was a myrmidon with short, brown hair and chocolate eyes. He seemed quite kind, but might have been a bit worn from a journey. All three had sorrow written upon their faces. In the circles under their eyes and the premature wrinkles in their foreheads, you could tell they had seen far more than children of their ages should have seen. None of the trio could have passed for more than 20 years old. These three were the lone survivors of a battle fought by the Greil mercenaries of Crimea.

"Hadn't we better find a good place to camp soon?" Chii said to Holly. "It's getting dark and I don't like the look of this fog..."

"Oh stop worrying Chii!" Furu came riding up on her horse, falling into step with the others quickly. "We'll be fine! The Begnions wouldn't dare attack all these people. Besides, most of us are Gallians!"

"Yeah... I suppose you're right..." Chii said, staring off into the brush for a moment before returning his attention to the road. "I just keep thinking I hear sounds from the bushes."

Meanwhile, in the thicket on the side of the road, Begnion soldiers hid and watched the band of Gallians march past, confirming that this was the guard for the official. Their commander, a monstrosity of a man, wearing blue armor and carrying a large sword, gave the order to emerge. The troops stepped quickly in front of the Gallians and the commander spoke.

"Drop your weapons, surrender the senator, and you shall not be harmed!"

"We'll not surrender to the likes of you humans!" the Gallian General roared in return, his deep voice resembling the roar of the lion that was his alter ego.

Without a word, the Begnion commander gave a grandiose wave of his hand, causing a band of men to reveal their location just behind the Gallian guard, doubling their force.

"… This doesn't look good." Chii said, a single note of fear in his voice.

"Yeah…" was all Holly could say as she licked her lips nervously and readied her Pegasus.

The enemy made the first move. Several knights wearing blue approached and lashed out with their lances. The beasts were wounded but none fell. In retaliation, the Gallian General sent Chii and two tigers to attack the knights. The tigers did fine, but Chii, being only a myrmidon, was wounded gravely.

"Chii!" Holly cried, her knuckles white, gripping the reins.

The General soon ordered him to retreat so he could tend his wounds.

"Ahhh…" he limped back, trying to look heroic."I need a vulnerary. Anyone got one?" Once healed, he returned his attention to the battle.

"Oh no…" Holly moaned in a low whisper as she was ordered to advance toward the front.

"Be careful Holly!" Furu cried after she had taken off.

As Holly flew forward on her Pegasus, she noticed an archer with his bow drawn, standing directly in her path.

Holly gave a desperate cry as she swerved to dodge the arrow, yet the arrow did not zip past, too close for comfort, for the archer never fired. Completely disregarding orders, Furu had rushed forward and separated the archer's head from his neck in one surprisingly powerful stroke.

"Are you alright?" Furu cried, adrenaline rushing from the heat of their first real battle.

"Oh Furu, I'm just fine. Thank you so much!" Was the grateful reply, paired with a hug. "You saved my life! …But you ignored the General again." The note was ended with a slightly reproachful tone and Furu began to protest.

"I know, I know, but he wasn't even looking in your direction. You might have died!"

The battle raged on until both sides were nearly annihilated. In the end, Holly, Furu, and Chii stood alone on the desolate road, facing the Begnion general and his second in command.

"You three, weakest of all, we will defeat you in an instant! Throw down your weapons and surrender!"

"What do we do?" Holly whispered desperately searching the eyes of her beloved siblings.

"We'll have to keep fighting. Even though our battalion has died, if we fight at least we have a shot; because, if we surrender we will surely be captured and tortured. It is our duty to defeat these soldiers who have killed the senator so rashly. We have to continue!" Chii said with unexpected conviction.

"You're right! For Gallia!" Furu shouted into the night.

"For Ike." Holly whispered to herself as the three began to advance.

Suddenly, a voice cried out from the brush.

"Hey! Could you use an extra soldier?"

"Who are you? Show yourself!" The Begnion general demanded, looking around, and for a moment, forgetting the three children.

There were two unknown soldiers, and they ran up and engaged the remaining Begnions in battle. One was a spearman and the other, an ax knight. They appeared young as well, but they were much stronger than the three Gallian soldiers. They easily defeated their combatants and turned toward the small group. The taller and obviously older one of the pair smiled brightly.

"Hi my name's Mat, I'm a knight working for the Greil Mercenaries. Surely you've heard of them?" the spearman said to the three survivors. Mat appeared strongly built, yet had a rather delicate demeanor despite his heavy armor. The kindness in his hazel eyes was overwhelming and turned the mood of the group instantly. The words he spoke were also of high importance.

"Heard of them?" Holly said, disbelieving excitement in her voice. "We used to work for them! We thought there was no one left. How many of you are there? And who?" Her voice was getting progressively higher and she was moving toward Mat with every word until she was stopped by his hand held in the air.

"There are only three of us. My associate and I are recent recruits. I would like you all to meet Chris." He waved his hand toward the man standing slightly behind him.

"Hey. I guess we came to save innocent noobies at the right moment." Chris laughed. Chris seemed a bit more withdrawn than Mat, but he was pleased all the same.

"Who is the third member of your group?" Holly pressed on, not wanting to believe.

"He was the one who recruited us. Found us in a situation not unlike your own. He trained us really well. His name is Ike." Mat replied, a bit of reverence in his voice. When he spoke the name 'Ike' Holly had gasped quite unnoticed by the others.

"No…" Chii said with a little bit of excitement in his voice.

"Ike was the leader of the group…" Furu began, but she was cut off by Mat.

"When they were slaughtered, we know. He's told us about you. You three must be the children that he had sent to town on an errand that day." Mat mused in a slightly awestruck tone. "He's been wondering what happened to you… Holly, Furu, and Chii, right?" Mat had correctly identified each member of their group. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Errr, you're the ones who saved us, so it's an honor to meet you." Furu replied, respectfully.

"Let's not keep Ike waiting! It'll be a great surprise for him." Chris smiled thoughtfully.

"Oh! Certainly not! Follow me; I'll take you back to our base." Mat began to walk in the direction which the group had originally come from, back toward Gallia. The senator had died, the rest of the battalion had died, so what did it matter if they defected? They would be taken for dead anyway. Nobody kept track of the soldiers, especially the weak mercenary recruits from out of town.

So they began making their way to the headquarters of the new Greil mercenaries. They walked through the dense fog for what seemed like hours, full of excitement and intense silence before they came upon an abandoned looking old castle.

"Well, this is it," Mat announced, "Home sweet home."

Mat led them into the kitchen where they all sat down and laid aside their weapons.

"Ah, you're back. What took you…" A tall, young, blue haired man walked into the kitchen wearing casual clothing and carrying a frying pan, evidently to put upon the fire that was blazing in the hearth. He stopped when he saw the three new faces and gazed at them for a moment. "Holly." He said in a low voice, not believing his eyes.

"Ike, do you remember us? We were the new recruits! Three years ago!" Chii said, his voice was tense with expectation.

"Of course, I haven't had a moment of rest from you three ever since!" He replied, going to the fire and setting the pan in its place. "Where have you been? I'm so relieved the three of you are safe. I've been searching high and low for you."

"Well, we were fighting this battalion from Begnion today…" Furu started, but Ike cut her off.

"Why don't you tell me the whole story from the very beginning?"

"Well… we got back from getting the groceries in town, it had been really uneventful, I mean, we had heard some whispers that the Greil mercenaries had been attacked, and we thought it was complete rubbish." Furu began, she paused for a moment.

"Until we got back to base," Holly began to speak, her voice was quiet, but everyone was listening intently. "We returned and we saw that everyone was dead. We didn't know what to do. Everything had been taken. The treasures, the ancient scrolls, even the food and other supplies… It was all gone. We were so upset; we didn't know what to do. We just ran because we were afraid the assailants were still around. We didn't really give the whole place a good rundown even; we didn't look to see if our things were still there… We left with nothing, not even our armor. We struggled for a while, just floating. We eventually ended up in Gallia and joined the royal guard. We were pretty untrained, and they don't spend any time teaching their soldiers how to fight. Tonight, Mat and Chris ran into us, we were the only survivors of our battalion and we were about to take on their general. It was pretty much a suicide mission, but we decided it was better to die in action for our cause than to be captured and tortured. Luckily they came and helped us… They told us that they were Greil mercenaries and I could hardly believe them, I didn't dare to hope that anyone else had survived." She sighed, a little shiver captured her, and she looked down, remembering their friends.

"I must apologize. I surely appeared dead to your young and frightened eyes. During the battle, I had been rendered unconscious. When I awoke, it was night and no one was around. I laid all our comrades to rest before I gathered all that was left and I set off." He took a deep breath. Despite having told the story a few times before, Ike was particularly emotional telling it to these three apprentices of the old Greil mercenaries, these three whom he had nearly lost toady without even knowing.

"I'm glad you made it." Chii nodded and shook Ike's hand. Furu stood and hugged him briefly where he stood by the fire.

"Me too." Holly murmured, standing to hug Ike as well.

"And I'm so very relieved that you three made it through such difficult times." Ike replied over Holly's shoulder as she put her arms around him. "Don't ever leave me again." He said, releasing Holly from the embrace.

"So, how old are you three then?" Mat asked Furu, making conversation.

"I'm 18." Furu smiled at him. "Holly is 19, and Chii is 17. We're all siblings. Our mother couldn't take care of us all when our father died, so she sent us away to be mercenaries." She explained. Chris listened as well, curious about them.

"I had always wanted to be a myrmidon anyway." Chii smiled. "Our dad was one. He fought for the Gallians, that's part of the reason we joined them."

"Ike…" Holly said quietly, under the voices of the others.

"Hm?" Ike was now paying much more attention to what he had been doing before they arrived.

"How did you cope on your own?" She rubbed her foot upon the stone of the hearth; she now was standing against the wall near where Ike crouched, poking at the embers of the slowly dying fire.

"I was alright. Found these two and trained them up… Pretty fair knights, I'd say." He replied, still not looking at her.

"I'm sorry we weren't there to help you mourn our friends." She sighed gloomily as she sunk to the floor, still leaning against the wall.

"Don't worry. You did the right thing by leaving; I don't know whether or not the bandits returned that night." He now turned to look at her, but she was staring holes into the rock on the floor, scratching it lightly with her thumbnail. "Hey." He said, still looking, and wanting her to meet his gaze. She looked up. "I'm going to turn you three into great combatants, great mercenaries. I promise. I know that I have only a fraction of my father's experience, but I think together, we will all improve so much."

"I think so too." Holly now smiled; her brown eyes had the old sparkle that they used to have, back when she was only 16. He always suspected she had a crush on him. He didn't approve back then… Of course, three years ago, he was much more of an egotistical young man, convinced he was destined for greatness, and power, and all that it comes with it. He had no time for 16 year old girls. He had been only 20, but she seemed like such a child, whereas he was such an adult?

"Oh, I found something of yours in the dormitory as I was leaving. I kept it for you, all this time." Ike stood and smiled. "I'll be back." As he left, Holly began listening to the others.

"We've been training with him for about 6 months now. I think that he's improved far more than Chris or I have. Not to say that Ike was clumsy back when we met him, but you could tell that he had grown up fast, and that he needed some people to guide. I could see it in the look on his face. He had been the leader of a pack, and there was no denying it. Ever since, he's just brightened up and bloomed into the most amazing leader. He had been searching for you guys for a long time." Mat was leading the conversation, Furu was sleeping quietly on her arms, Chii and Chris were listening, but beginning to nod off themselves. It was getting pretty late.

Soon, Ike returned with something in his hand, it was small and completely concealed. He sat down against the wall on the stone floor next to Holly. He smiled and held out his hand, palm open. She looked at the trinket he held. She recognized it and gasped. Ike turned his hand so that the dainty chain dangled from his fingers, he smiled.

"I saw a glimmer on the floor partially hidden by an upturned mattress. I picked it up and opened it, and I knew who it belonged to immediately." Ike now opened the locket and looked at the photograph inside. It was of a small girl and her mother. The child had long brown hair, as did the mother, and they were smiling.

"Oh Ike." Holly breathed, taking the heart shaped locket. "I had beaten myself up over this. Of all the days to leave my locket behind, that was the worst." She laughed. "Oh thank you!" She flung her arms around him again. "It's good to be with you again… We are part of the new team now right? I'm not sure I want the Gallian army to know that I'm alive…"

"Of course! How else can I keep my eye on you three?" He laughed.

Holly had always enjoyed Ike's laugh. It was melodic, and soothing. She still couldn't believe he had survived. She had given up all hope. And there he sat, more handsome than ever, kinder now. That was something she did not miss. He had looked right through her for most of her days with the Greil mercenaries. Toward the end, he had become a bit friendlier when they had proven some worth to the group. Yet now, he looked right into her soul, as if she were the only person on the planet. That felt good.

"I missed wearing this." Holly reached around her neck and clasped the gold chain.

"I'm glad I saw it. I decided to keep it forever. It was one of the only things left that I could remember anyone by. I remembered how nice you were to me, and I enjoyed the thought of being able to return this to you someday, to somehow repay your kindness."

"Oh, I was just a kid then, you know." Holly blushed a brighter shade of pink, and then fake-yawned. "It must be getting pretty late, hm?"

"Yeah… You should go to bed; the battle today must have been frightening." Ike stood. "I have rooms you all can stay in, this place is pretty big, really. We haven't been using most of it. It will be nice to have more people here to make it feel more like home." He smiled and held out a hand to help Holly up. She took it and stood.

"Sounds nice, soldiers quarters are hell." She laughed.

"It's getting pretty late, isn't it?" He said to the others, all of whom were sleeping on the table. "I have rooms you can stay in…" He went on to see if anyone was listening. "No takers? Alright, suit yourselves." Ike laughed and exited with their lantern to the hallway. Holly followed as they went up a flight of stairs.

"We were talking for quite a time." She smiled, though he couldn't see in the darkness.

"Yes, we were, weren't we?" Ike stopped. "I'll put you right near us. That way, nobody is secluded in the rest of this place… It's a really old castle, small but old and creepy all the same." He opened the door of the 2nd room he came to. "I'll put you here." He went in and lit the lantern on the dressing table. The room was pretty basic. A large four-poster bed, an old dressing table with a large mirror and a wash basin, a padded chair, and a large window overlooking the drive were all that was in it. The floors were wood and had no rugs, and the closet was open with no doors.

"It's… nice." Holly smiled at Ike when he looked at her as if he were expecting an assessment.

"I'm so sorry about it… We haven't really been in here much…"

"It's fine." She smiled. "I'll just work on cleaning it up a little tomorrow. It's a bit dusty is all that's wrong."

"You could have my room tonight… I wouldn't want you sleeping in a dust pile… I would be fine in here..." He offered quickly.

"No… I'm fine!" Holly smiled. "Really, I'm just happy to be here. I'm just happy that you're alive!"

"Only if you're sure."

"Positive." Holly laughed then followed Ike back out into the hallway. He pointed to the door to the right.

"This is me, across the hall is Mat, down from him is Chris, and we can put Furu next to you, and Chii next to Chris." Ike smiled. "I hope you sleep well then."

"You too, Ike."

"Goodnight."

They parted and went into their rooms. The next day would be big, and they needed to get some rest. The Greil mercenaries had just doubled in size, and there was a lot of cleaning, arranging and training to be done.


	2. Chapter 2

**FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES**

**I don't Own Fire Emblem… **

**Chapter 2: Settling In**

The morning came far too soon for the band of mercenaries. The first to wake were the group in the kitchen. The bright morning rays made their way into the Eastern window and fell upon the table. Mat attempted to bat away the light before realizing it was morning and sat up, yawning loudly. He woke the others presently and complaints directed at Ike ensued.

"Why didn't he wake us up?" Chris grumbled, cracking his stiff back. "Now we're going to be training on half the energy.

Furu had to be shaken lightly at first by Holly, then shaken more roughly by Chii, and then beaten over the head with a pan by Ike before she woke up fully. Chris, also not an early riser, got up on his own but was half-sleeping in his breakfast. Ike made them all sit at the makeshift table to eat. He believed strongly in friendship bonds among comrades. Chii, by now happy to be awake, was giggling quietly as he tried to stuff breakfast cereal up Chris' nose. Chris quickly awakened with a grunt at the scent of the hated breakfast cereal, and realizing the cause, hit Chii with a spoon before returning to his dreams. Holly, not noticing the commotion, continued eating her food while staring at the blue haired commander, not really believing this dream come true. Furu was poking her spoon into the cool milk, not really hungry. It didn't sit well with her that she had needed to be rescued. Ike turned and smiled at everyone.

"Now, Furu, don't look so glum. We're going to start training in a little while." He laughed, knowing what the girl was fuming about. Furu's ears perked up and she looked to Ike.

"Really?" She asked happily. Ike nodded and Furu stood to go outside.

"She really does like training." Mat commented. Holly, Chii, and Ike all nodded.

"Well, I don't!" Holly laughed, standing. "I just don't want her wondering off on us." Holly exited the building as well.

"Well, we'd better go too, I suppose." Mat rose. Chii followed suit and Ike drug Chris out the door after the group. Upon entering the sunlight, Chris awoke and started hitting Ike before the commander let him stand on his own.

"Now." Ike said, walking to the center of the semi-circle created by the mercenaries. "We're going to start with a warm up then a team battle. Everyone prepare yourselves and then gather with your team. To start, it'll be Mat, Chris, and I against Chii, Furu, and Holly. Now everyone run a few laps around the lake to start." Ike smiled evilly. Everyone started running, and Ike grinned until Holly pushed him ahead of her.

"C'mon, you're running too." She giggled then ran off. Ike looked a little disgruntled but then decided maybe he should run and followed everyone around three times. Afterward, everyone sat on the ground, panting as the lake had a diameter of a few miles. Ike proceeded to command them into push-ups, curl-ups, stretches, and chin-ups.

After everyone was thoroughly exhausted, Ike declared the battle to begin. Chii, Holly, and Furu lined up with their backs to the lake, and Ike, Chris, and Mat lined up facing them.

"Ok," Ike said. "Let the battle begin." With that, both lines charged forward meeting the other line halfway. Chii matched up with Chris, Holly matched up with Ike, and Furu matched up with Mat. The battles were intense and they fought for quite some time.

"This is for putting cereal up my nose!" Chris shouted as he rushed at Chii.

"You wish!" Chii yelled back as he nimbly dodged the stroke. As he countered his wooden training sword made a dull thump against Chris's wooden ax. They fought to a stalemate until they both collapsed in a draw.

Meanwhile, Holly and Ike were fighting a terribly one-sided battle.

"How have you been these past years?" Ike asked as he swung his training sword.

"All right…" she replied as she barely dodged the blow. "Not much happened you know a battle here and there mostly boring."

"It can't have been too boring being in the Gallian army." Ike replied.

"Yeah. But there wasn't a whole lot of action. And it wasn't pleasant camping with the Gallians, they all smell bad." Holly complained, almost forgetting about the battle at hand. Ike laughed but took this opportunity to land the blow that took Holly down. She landed flat on her back, angry, she tried to stand but in the end, failed, and just lay, exhausted. Ike helped her to her feet.

"Now, as long as our adversaries don't engage you in conversation." Ike laughed. Holly smiled and nodded.

Finally, Furu and Mat were fighting fiercely and silently by the lakeside. Although Furu was at a disadvantage, she fought fiercely. She looked up in time to see Holly get knocked down by Ike and paused for a moment. Mat took this opportunity to knock her several feet into the lake. Furu, angered, swam to the shore, soaking wet. She climbed out and sat on the grass. Holly was her one and only weakness… and she knew it.

Back on the other side of the battlefield, Chii and Chris were talking.

"You're a pretty formidable opponent." Chii said, now sitting up.

"Yeah, you are too." Chris attempted a smile.

"I won't put cereal up your nose any more." Chii laughed.

"Good."

"So, you wanna be friends?" Chii laughed. Chris laughed.

"Better to have a friend that's your equal than an enemy that's your equal." Chris said simply.

"Yeah." Chii agreed nodding.

Ike was sitting on the ground next to Holly, now.

"So what have you been doing?" Holly asked.

"Not much. Continuing the Greil mercenaries where we left off." Ike replied.

"Good. I miss the old band. We were the strongest there was. I wonder how they won." Holly said, sadness apparent in her eyes.

"I think we all miss them." Ike replied, looking into the girl's eyes with an expression that said 'I'm sorry'.

Suddenly, there was a crash inside the castle. Everyone looked up. Someone was inside. And, since there were no doors, it was highly likely.

Chii, Mat, and Ike jumped to their feet. Chris was hurt a little on his leg so he remained sitting. The three walked stealthily into their 'home'. The first thing they saw when they arrived in the kitchen was a thief, unconscious, on the floor, a pot of flour broken over him. He looked quite comical, covered in flour, a lump slowly rising on his head.


	3. Chapter 3

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: Yep… still don't own Fire Emblem…

A/N: I'm on a roll here…

Chapter 3: Thief!

Holly and Furu ran into the building afterward. Ike was in the process of tying the thief up. Holly studied the intruder. His short light brown hair stuck up in an odd fashion. His eyes were closed so Holly could not tell that they were a piercing icy blue. He wore a dark green tunic, white Link pants, and tall boots with a red cape. His dagger was set on the counter quite a long distance from where Ike set him after tying him up.

"Looks like we caught a thief." Mat smiled. Ike nodded.

"Oh, goodness, at least we weren't asleep." Holly sighed. Chii agreed.

"Let's kill him." Furu said, helping Chris walk inside.

"No. We need to know why he's here. If he was spying or if he's just a common thief, looking to steal something." Ike replied. Chris sat down in a chair near the group, gathered around the now harmless thief. Chii went outside and returned with a bucket of lake water. He splashed it on the thief, successfully waking him up. The thief tried to sit up but found his arms and legs bound.

"Wha- what happened?" The thief sputtered through the cold water.

"You are in the headquarters of the Greil mercenaries." Ike said menacingly. Holly stifled a laugh with her hand. Their band wasn't all that large but Ike had made it sound as if there were many, many skilled mercenaries among them.

"Um… I'm quite sorry, but I've never heard of the likes of you before, and by the look of you, I'd say that you aren't very strong." The thief said, skeptically. Ike drew his real sword swiftly.

"What was that?" Ike said, looking quite furious about now.

"Um… I said that you look quite strong." The thief said, changing his mind, realizing that he did not have his dagger anymore.

"I thought so." Ike replied, flipping his sword around and hitting the thief on the head with the hilt. The sword was once again sheathed, and Ike stooped down so he could look him right in the eye. "Now, would you please tell us your name, first off?" Ike asked, faking kindliness quite well, though it didn't fool anyone. The thief gave Ike a death glare, but luckily those don't hurt.

"Cody." The thief said, begrudgingly.

"Good. Cody, why are you here?" Ike smiled.

"I'm here because I'm a thief, alright?" Cody looked down to his tied up hands.

"I'm sorry, Cody, I'm not sure that I'm quite familiar with what thieves do." Ike chuckled at his own statement.

"Well, if you must know, I thought this place was abandoned. I'm on the run from the Begnion army. Let's just say I care not for the affairs of others, just the gold they horde." He laughed cynically.

"Oh, well, you seem to be in luck. We happen to be working for the king of Gallia to fight against Begnion. We can offer you refuge for a time, there's one condition. You work for us." Ike smiled.

Outside, after the thief known as Cody was set free, Ike set to work on preparing an obstacle course for Cody to test his skills, in combat, and as a thief. Mat, Chris, and Furu were sent into the woods to catch a few wolves or bears. Chii and Holly, much to their dismay were sent out to catch snakes and rabbits in the meadow. Ike remained watching Cody warm up for his obstacle course.

Out in the forest, the group of three had found a wolf's den. Luckily, the inhabitants were asleep. Mat went in, bravely, and came out with three wolves tied up and growling. Furu laughed at the sight. He was scratched up, and bleeding.

"You're bleeding." Chris stated bluntly.

"I kind of figured that…" Mat replied. "Did either of you bring a vulnerary?" Both shook their heads. "That's just wonderful! Holly and Chii go out after bunnies and bring three vulnerary. We go into the woods after lions, wolves and bears and don't bring a single one." Mat complained. Furu ripped off one of her shirtsleeves.

"Here. This should help if only a little." She sighed.

"Thanks." Mat wiped his face with the red cotton material.

"Hey, look, it's a bear." Chris stated. The three ran after it, wolves in tow.

Meanwhile, in the meadow, Holly and Chii had a few snakes in cages and a line of tied up bunnies from here to Timbuktu. Holly was carrying one particularly white bunny and petting it. They walked back to where Ike was sitting, bored, in the grass while Cody ran laps.

"Good, good, Many bunnies, I see." Ike smiled as they walked up.

"Yea. Look, this is Isabel. Isn't she just the sweetest?" Holly cooed, looking at the bunny with big eyes.

"Chii, you've told her that they have to die, right?" Ike asked Chii in a low tone while Holly cooed at her bunny. Chii nodded.

"She won't listen." He sighed.

"Well, maybe we can let her keep that one. I don't think I, or anyone for that matter could tell her that Cody is going to kill 'Isabel'." Ike smiled. Chii shook his head in agreement. "Holly, do you want to make a cage for little Isabel?" Ike said in a pleasant tone. Holly nodded.

"Oh yes, I would just die if something ate her in the night." Holly smiled sadly. "Would you hold her while I go collect some materials, Ike?"

"Err…" Ike looked quite uncomfortable. "Tell you what? Why don't I make the cage for her and you can make sure she doesn't run away?" Ike said. It seemed that he had an abnormal fear of bunnies.

"Ooh! Ok. Thank you, Ike!" Holly squealed.

"Ah… no problem." Ike ran off into the forest. Holly giggled as soon as he was gone.

"I think Ike likes Isabel." She grinned. Cody got back from his laps. He sat on the grass next to Holly.

"What… have-you… got… there?" He asked Holly, trying to catch his breath.

"Her name is Isabel!" Holly laughed. "She's a bunny."

"Oh, so I get to kill her, do I?" Cody laughed.

"NO!" Holly shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Cody smiled apologetically.

"Yeah, you get to kill these guys." Chii laughed, pointing to the chain of bunnies. Holly sighed and watched as Furu, Mat, and Chris returned. Ike followed, carrying sticks and looking a lot calmer.

"What are those?" Cody shouted when he saw the wolves and the bear. "Are you people trying to get back at me for trying to rob you?"

"Maybe…" Ike said with a knowing grin. "Anyway we need to see your skill to be able to tell if you are a good enough thief to work for us."

"Ok! I think it's about ready!" Chris said way too cheerfully.

"Very good. I think it's time to see what you can do. All warmed up and ready?

"As I'll ever be I guess…" Cody said reluctantly. "Well no time to waste might as well get it over with."

And so with that, the thievery test began.


	4. Chapter 4

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, but you can look me up in 20 years… I'll own something by then…

A/N: Please review! I need to know what I'm doing right… or wrong…

Warning: The rating is actually used in this chapter… Due to the unnecessary slaughtering of bunnies, other creatures, and some language.

Chapter 4: The First Mage

"Ok! We'll have Holly flying over the maze to fish you out if you get into too much trouble. Just give her a shout and she'll come pick you up. Got it? Ok then, Ready… Set… GO!" Ike said to the thief as he stood before the opening in the wooden walls built by Ike. Without a word he ran into the maze. "Save your energy! You'll need it!" Ike called after him.

Meanwhile, inside the maze, Cody's confidence was growing. He had been inside for almost a minute without encountering anything menacing. Then, all of a sudden a bunny popped out of a hole built into the wall.

"AHHH! Wait… oh ok it's just a rabbit…." He said with relief. "Well I guess I'd better get on. Prepare yourself foul creature!" With this he proceeded to kill the poor unsuspecting bunny. He kept running until he came to something that was sort of odd. There was a fake house painted on the wall… "What's this supposed to be? Whoever painted this needs lessons… Oh well. I guess I need to check it out." When he did he discovered there was a treasure chest painted to blend in with the house. "Damn these people are deranged or something." He then tried to open the chest only to have it slam closed on his fingers. "ARRGGHH!" He screamed in surprise. The chest was obviously booby-trapped. "Ouch… I need to be more careful…" When he disabled the trap he reached in and took out a finely crafted dagger. "Nice. They left me a present for my trouble." And with this he ran on. After a long while he came to a dark tunnel. "Damn! I hate this! This is probably where they put their bear with my luck…" But he had no choice. He proceeded, cautiously, into the tunnel. About halfway through, he heard a faint growling noise. "Hey! I wasn't serious about the bear you know!" But it wasn't a bear. A wolf snuck up on him as he was fleeing from the tunnel. It swiped at him from behind with its paw and struck him squarely in the rear flank. "Shit! I have to take that wolf down now!" A battle followed and the thief emerged victorious. With the tunnel behind him and his pants torn, he continued towards to goal. Along the way he found several more wolves and so many bunnies that he lost count. Eventually, he came across another "house". This time there was no chest. But the doorknob protruded out from the painting. "What now?" he asked of nobody in particular, panting for breath. Using more caution than with the first chest, he gingerly touched the knob. He found that it was a real door and not a painting. With fear he turned the knob and leapt aside. It was a good thing he did. He might not have survived to see the treasure if he had not. A massive black paw shot out with enough force to take his head off. "OH MY GOD! THAT'S IT! THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS! I'M OUT OF HERE!" Completely ignoring the treasure and the bear he ran blindly for the exit. Along the way he tripped over a chest and then a bunny.

He looked quite comical as he ran out of the exit opening with a bunny in hot pursuit, bloody and torn from the bear and the wolves.

"You pansy ass little girl!" Furu exclaimed as she saw the thief nearly panting from exhaustion.

"Holly, why didn't you save him?" Ike half laughed.

"He didn't ask. And besides, it was fun watching him go nuts." She replied trying to hide her grin. Holly picked up the bunny that was chasing Cody and petted it. "Good bunny." She cooed. She walked to the edge of the meadow and set the brown spotted bunny down. When she came back, Cody was laying flat on his back, panting, and Furu was laughing at him. Ike was bringing a vulnerary from the base to heal the worn out thief. Mat was walking through the maze, tying up the live wolves and the bear so he could release them into the woods. Chris was eating a slice of bread. Chii was laughing at something Chris had said.

"You didn't do very well…" Ike said to Cody.

"What… did-you… expect?" He asked, not looking at Ike.

"I expected better than that…" Ike replied, healing the thief.

"Well…" Cody replied, sitting up now. "At least I didn't ask to be saved." He smiled. Ike shook his head in disappointment.

"HEY! OVER HERE!" A voice called from the road. Ike turned to see who the voice was attached to. Standing just outside the gate was a short, blonde woman. Ike walked over to her.

"May I help you?" Ike asked politely.

"Yes, maybe you could direct me to Goldoa, I wish to speak with the dragon tribe." She replied, a polite smile on her face. By the look of her, she appeared to be a mage. She wore black robes and carried a red book. Her eyes were of a pale tint, as was her skin. Her smile looked slightly forced as she was travel worn and had dark circles about her eyes as if she had not slept well the previous night.

"Well, why don't you come inside and rest for a bit while I search for my map. I take it you're not from around here, and the route can be quite confusing." Ike replied, smiling. The girl nodded.

"I'm Chibi of Crimea. It's nice to meet you…" She paused, her speech as she followed Ike inside.

"Ike of the Greil mercenaries." Ike replied.

"Ike. I thank you for your hospitality to a traveler." Chibi bowed a little when they arrived in the kitchen.

"It's not a problem. Please sit. I'll return shortly." Ike left Chibi and walked to his room. He crouched to better look underneath a chair. There was a box, which he pulled out. Inside, there was a snow-white bunny. Ike let out a girly scream and walked quickly outside.

"Holly, come and remove your rabbit from my personal items, please." He said to Holly. Holly stood, and followed him to his room. There, she grabbed Isabel from the box and carried her into the kitchen.

"Hello?" Holly said when she noticed the blonde sitting at the table.

"Hello. I am Chibi. I'm awaiting a man named Ike. He is going to show me the path to Goldoa." She smiled.

"Oh. Nice to meet you, I'm Holly. I live here too." She shook Chibi's hand. Holly then noticed the book sitting on the table. "Are you a mage by any chance?" Holly asked politely.

"Yes, a fire mage by trade. I'd prefer it if you did not tell anyone however." Chibi replied.

"Oh, alright. Would you like something to drink?" Holly smiled, setting down her rabbit on the floor.

"Yes, please." Chibi agreed. At this moment Mat walked into the kitchen closely followed by Furu, Chris, Chii and Cody.

"Who are you?" Cody said rudely.

"Her name is Chibi. She's a traveler. We're helping her on her way." Holly said to the rude thief. Chibi nodded.

"Holly, can you make me a cup of tea too?" Furu asked kindly.

"Of course. Would anyone else like one?" Holly smiled.

"Yes." Mat replied.

"Ya." Cody said.

"No, thank you." Chii replied.

"Yes, please." Ike said, having heard her from the hallway. Chris did not answer. He was busy getting Isabel off his lap. Holly made six cups of tea and sat down at the table after passing them around. Ike spread the map out across the table in front of them all. He pointed to a spot on the map.

"We're here." He then pointed to Goldoa. "This is your destination, correct?" He asked. Chibi nodded. "It's going to be a long journey." He chuckled grimly.


	5. Chapter 5

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem… I do own my own copy of the game cube game! It rocks! Lol

Chapter 5: The Long Road to Goldoa

They prepared for their journey until the sun went down around 8:00. Early the next morning, they set off down the long road to Goldoa. Mist was rising from the rice fields that were planted along the rough dirt path. Ike headed off the precession, walking ahead of the Pegasus who was instructed to follow Ike while Holly napped on its back. He turned and grinned at the girl who was hanging slightly precariously around the Pegasus' neck. Ike walked back to the gleaming white winged horse and secured Holly so she wouldn't fall off. Behind Holly and Angel, the Pegasus, walked Chii and Chris, who were chatting happily. Furu was riding next to a walking Chibi and they were talking with Mat and Cody who were walking slightly behind, bringing up the end for security in case of attacks from the rear. Ike looked to the horizon and watched the mist disappear as the warm sun burned it away. As far as he could see, rice fields were surrounding them. He wasn't expecting an attack and grinned as the sun slowly rose up out of one of the rice fields. Holly yawned somewhere behind him.

"Awake finally?" He asked. They'd been traveling for about an hour by now… they'd even taken a break already.

"Yeah." Holly yawned. She sped up her Pegasus to the point where she was slowly walking next to Ike. "Wanna ride? I bet you're tired." Holly grinned. Ike nodded.

"Yeah, you could say that. Do you want me to steer her?" Ike asked.

"Nah, she follows my orders best." They stopped and Ike jumped onto Angel behind Holly. Once he was positioned, Holly set Angel to walking again. Ike's arms were wrapped around Holly's waist as not to fall off… but as Holly had been sleeping on the steed, it was probably overkill. Still, Holly unconsciously grinned at him.

"Thanks… this is much more comfortable than walking." Ike laughed.

"No problem." Holly smiled.

"It's a beautiful morning." Ike smiled, looking at the sunrise. Holly looked to the east.

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'm glad I woke up." Holly shifted slightly.

"Mhmm… Me too." Ike laughed.

"You're just tired of walking." Holly teased.

"That's some of it." He laughed.

Behind them, Chii was laughing at one of Chris' antics. Behind them, Chibi was explaining her magic to Furu, Mat and a not interested Cody.

"HEY, WHY DOES HE GET TO RIDE ON HER HORSE BIRD THING?" Cody shouted, noticing Ike sitting so close to Holly.

"IT'S A PEGASUS!" Holly yelled back.

"AND I GET TO RIDE ON IT BECAUSE I'M THE COMMANDER!" Ike shouted. Holly fwaped him on his knee.

"That's not it at all, you goof!" Holly yelled at Ike. "I'M ONLY LETTING HIM RIDE BECAUSE HE'S NICE TO ME."

"Oh… YEAH WHAT SHE SAID!" Ike yelled at Cody.

"THAT ISN'T FAIR!" Cody yelled.

"IT IS TOO! IT'S HER PEGASUS, RIGHT?" Ike shouted. This made Holly smile. It was her Pegasus and she had asked Ike to ride on it with her. Besides, she didn't want a perverted thief in such close proximity to her rear. She was wearing a plate skirt that was abnormally short. But she trusted Ike. Chibi continued her discussion about fire magic and Cody returned to his thoughts about his aching feet.

After about three hours of walking, everyone was complaining so they stopped in the middle of the road and sat. Holly pulled sandwiches from her rucksack. They ate silently. Cody broke the silence with a rude sound.

"Cody." Furu reprimanded.

"What?"

"You know." Holly frowned.

"Whatever." Cody went back to his sandwich. Ike laughed suddenly. Holly looked questioningly at him.

"Oh, I just remembered one time before you joined our old group." Ike had a sad but amused look on his face. It made Holly feel sorry for him.

"Do you want to tell us?" Holly asked kindly.

"Someday… but not now. I want to scout out the road ahead since I'm finished. I'll go on my own, if its alright." He stood. Mat looked up at him.

"You sure you ant to go alone?" He asked.

"Yeah." He turned and walked down the road. Holly looked after him for a long time until she noticed Angel eating part of her sandwich. She gave the rest to the Pegasus. He was crying, she could tell. Slowly, she stood and ran toward the shivering figure who was almost too far away to be seen. Soon, she was standing next to him.

"Ike." She whispered. He spun around.

"I thought I said…" He started but seeing the look on Holly's face, stopped. He was not in reality crying, but it was apparent he was about to. Holly sighed.

"I know what you said, but you're hurting. That memory. It wasn't good, was it?" She stepped closer.

"No, it was. I just… remembered a really happy time. It makes me miss someone very important to me." He said, holding back tears.

"I'm sorry."

"You have no idea what's wrong." Ike smiled wryly.

"Well, you could tell me." Holly looked at him seriously.

"Alright. I was remembering a time when my sister and I were young. We got lost when we were out exploring so we ate our little packed lunch together in the middle of a dirt road. Eventually, mother came to find us… but it was the nicest day I'd ever spent with Mist. My mother died shortly after that, so I also remembered her." Ike sighed.

"Oh, Ike. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine loosing Chii. It must be awful." Holly sighed, knowing she could not feel Ike's pain at the moment.

"Yeah. Horrible doesn't even begin to describe it." He sighed again. A single tear fell from his eye. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Ike was only 23. He acted like he was 40. Holly wiped the tear away with the tip of her finger.

"Don't cry. Please. I don't know how to comfort people." Holly smiled.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Everyone needs a good cry now and again."

"For crying in front of you." He sighed.

"No, its ok. I won't tell." Holly smiled.

"It's not that. I'm strong. For you. I don't cry!" He sighed. "Oh well… I'm glad I can confide in you." He smiled.

"Anytime." Holly smiled.

"Forgive me." He said then embraced her tightly. She hugged him back.

"It's quite alright." Holly grinned when he let go. Ike laughed.

"I probably seem strange to you right about now." Ike smiled. Holly shook her head.

"No, I'm glad you can take away your façade for me," She grinned.

They walked back together and they all set off together once again. Much later, the group stopped in an abnormally large soft patch of grass between two fields. Everyone stretched out in the grass looking up into the deep blue sky. They could now faintly see the city they were to stay the night in coming over the horizon. This was quite a relief because they were about an hour away and the sun was on the down rise. It had been a hot day. They were all looking forward to sleeping tonight. They were grateful that an inn resided in the town so as they would not have to sleep on the ground yet. Later on in their journey, they knew they would have to sleep on the ground and bathe in the river they would be following instead of the road after the village. Holly watched as a single could floated past and wondered for one moment what it would be like now if Ike had perished with the rest of the mercenary group.


	6. Chapter 6

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I own no part of Fire Emblem except this story…

Chapter 6: The Mysterious Priestess Alycia

It was just past sunset when the band crowded into the small inn known as The Broken Lance. It was a quiet, homey little place. The entrance hall was decorated sparsely with a few little rustic chairs and tables with oil lamps alight, giving the room a warm glow. There was no attendant when they arrived, so Ike rang the small bell on the counter politely. A small, pudgy, graying woman ran into the entry after a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry. You see we don't get many visitors around here. There sure are a lot of you. Well, can I help y'all?" She said in her creaky southern accent.

"Yes, we were wondering if you had room for a group of our size for the night." Ike smiled down at the small woman.

"Yes, in fact, we do. There's no one else here but my husband and my daughter. So, you're in luck I suppose." The woman smiled. "It'll be 70 gold if yer wantin rooms with three beds."

"Sounds good." Ike nodded. "We'll need three rooms."

"Sure, Hon." The woman smiled and Ike nodded a little wearily. The woman led the way down the hall and up a staircase. Three adjacent rooms were introduced. They were each very large rooms, with one terrace that all the rooms were connected to. The girls went into their room and settled in.

"So, Chibi, what's your story?" Furu asked quizzically.

"Furu." Holly elbowed Furu.

"No, its fine." Chibi sighed.

"You really don't have to tell if you don't want to." Holly smiled.

"No, you deserve to know. I was abandoned, at the doorstep of a church. The sisters took me in, but they could not take care of me after I grew older. They found me an apprenticeship with a very nice old mage. She taught me everything I know. Now, I'm traveling to Goldoa to find a relation of my master. She has been searching for him for a long time now." Chibi sighed, and then smiled at us.

"Aww. I'm so sorry." Holly smiled.

"It's fine. I've come to terms with my past." Chibi smiled and hopped off the bed. Holly grinned to herself. The girl was nearly the same age as her, but was so short. It was funny. All three girls walked out onto the terrace. The stars shined brightly in the velvet black sky. Another door opened to the right. Ike walked out and leaned against the rail next to the trio.

"Amazing, really. There's so many of them." He said, somberly.

"Yeah." Furu sighed.

"It reminds me of home." Holly sighed.

"Yeah." Ike murmured. The door opened again. Mat came out into the night.

"Hey, Mat." Furu mumbled.

"Hey." Mat replied.

"Look, is that a light?" Chibi asked, pointing into the dark. Sure enough, there was a glimmer approaching in the distance. It was like the glittering of light on metal.

"Yeah, and can you see that white around it? It's a person!" Mat exclaimed. A few moments passed before Ike spoke again.

"There are people chasing him!" Ike shouted.

"So there is!" Mat agreed. The first person could be seen now. It was a woman. She had long, wavy, dark hair. She was dressed in long white robes. A large crucifix hung around her neck. A look of absolute fear was written on her face. Ike and Mat leaped into action. They jumped off the roof and landed swiftly on their feet. Furu and Holly dashed into the other two rooms. Holly alerted Cody to the battle at hand, and Furu informed Chii and Chris of the impending conflict. Everyone dashed outside and jumped off the roof as Ike and Mat had. The woman stopped in her tracks, as well as her pursuers. They turned out to be knights dressed in black, most likely highwaymen. When these men realized that the people from the sky were armed, they turned and ran. There were only about three of them and as there were eight of our heroes, they decided it was not worth robbing a simple priestess.

"Well, that was easy." Furu said flatly.

"Thank you much for rescuing me. May God be with you always." The woman said kindly.

"Oh, well, we really didn't do a whole lot." Mat scratched the back of his head.

"You've been of more help than you can imagine." She replied.

"May I inquire about your name?" Chii bowed slightly at the woman.

"Of course, I am…" But she was cut off by the battle cry of the highwaymen. Holly screamed an awful high-pitched scream. There were many more of them now; the mercenary group would be much more challenged.

Ike counted around twenty-four highwaymen. That made three highwaymen for everyone in the group. The highwaymen surrounded the small mercenary band and raised their weapons.

"Looks like they want a fight." Mat laughed.

"Well, we'll give them one!" Furu yelled, charging into the fray. This seemed to break the spell and everybody charged into the forming melee. Though they were outnumbered, they charged, screaming, into the heart of the enemy formation. The highwaymen, naturally, all wielded swords because they were too weak to do otherwise. This gave Mat and Holly a distinct advantage over the enemy.

Chris and Chii were fighting side-by-side, with Chris up higher because of his horse. Chris was having a hard time of it because of his axe. The highwaymen were weak, however, and even with this disadvantage, he was still holding up fairly well.

"These guys can't do much." Chii observed as he cut one of them fatally.

"Speak for yourself! I have to fight 'em with an axe!" Chris panted wearily.

"I guess that would make it difficult." Chii replied without sympathy. "They're still pretty weak though."

"Hey, ummm…" Chris started. "I've never really thought about this because I always just figured we couldn't lose, but…" Chris broke off again. He finally decided to come to the point and said, "If I die, can you make sure this gets mailed?" With this he handed Chii a letter.

"Ummm… sure." Chii replied, now feeling uncomfortable. "I've never really thought about it either…" Chii said, trying to change the subject. "I suppose it is a smart thing to do. I'll write one up tonight and you can keep it ok?"

"Ummm… that's kinda weird… but I suppose that's all right." Chris replied, still sort of uncomfortable. It was at that moment when they were standing and ignoring the fight, a sword passed painfully close to Chii's face.

"Whoa!" Chii cried out in surprise. "I guess we're still in the middle of a battle after all." Chris didn't reply to this. He was laughing too hard.

Meanwhile, Holly and Furu were backed into a corner by several of the highwaymen. They began to close in with their swords raised.

"This doesn't look good at all." Holly said, stating an obvious fact. "How are we going to get out of this one?"

"We're not. I am. Wait for me here." Furu said dryly. With this, she leaned against her horse's neck, let out a loud cry and charged. She was beginning to get bogged down in the tangle of swords when Holly decided it was a time for heroes. She charged into the melee after Furu. They both fought fiercely, but when the dust settled, Holly was draped across her saddle with a serious injury.

"Holly!" Furu cried. "Hold on! I'll go get that priestess! What was her name again?"

"It doesn't matter! Just go!" Holly said rather impatiently.

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Furu stammered rather embarrassed. She then rode off to find the priestess, whose name nobody could remember.

Also, Ike and Mat were fighting back-to-back and the number of enemies around them was rapidly decreasing.

"That was waaaay too easy." Mat said with a boastful tone in his voice. "It's not like they were even trained by anybody."

"They most likely weren't." Ike said. "Never mind that now. We have to go and help the others."

Mat sighed at this. "We just got finished… now you want more?" he asked.

"Hey, it was you that said this was easy." Ike said tauntingly. With that, they both turned and went to assist their fellow mercenaries.

The whole time, Cody was standing slightly behind the priestess, claiming to be protecting her. None of the highwaymen bothered with them.

"Are you hiding?" The priestess asked.

"No." Cody stated. "Do you really expect me to fight them with this?" He held up his small knife. "That's the only weapon they allow me." He sighed and lighted a cigarette. It burned in the darkness. Suddenly, Furu rode up on her horse.

"Holly's seriously hurt, can you help her?" Furu panted, worried for her dear friend.

"Yes." The priestess nodded then mounted the horse behind Furu and they rode back into the fray.

"Lovely. Now I'm utterly alone." Cody sighed, blowing a puff of smoke into the night sky. He was a thief, not a soldier. He had no bad feelings about sitting, idle the whole time.

"We've got to get her out of here." The priestess said, studying the wound as Furu fought off approaching highwaymen. Furu nodded she dismounted the horse.

"You can take her back right?" Furu asked. The priestess nodded and rode off with Holly. The remaining mercenaries had slain the remaining highwaymen by the time the priestess returned. Ike was yelling at Cody for not helping the priestess with getting Holly upstairs and into a bed.

"So, priestess, I don't think you ever told us your name." Mat said thoughtfully. Everyone turned to look at the priestess. Even Ike and Cody, who were engaged in a full-scale yelling match, turned to look at the short woman with glasses. She pushed a strand of her long, wavy brown hair out of her face and smiled.

"I'm Alycia." She said simply.

"Do you think you'll be able to heal my sister?" Chii asked, everyone had heard about Holly by now. She was the only one seriously injured. Alycia nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure I can. I just need my medical bag." She walked over to where Cody and Ike were fighting again and picked up her bag.


	7. Chapter 7

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 7: Two Stray Dogs and the Last Chapter on the Road to Goldoa

It turned out that Holly would be fine in a few days. But she couldn't walk on her leg. The gash was deep. But, Alycia decided Holly would regain use of her leg eventually. The only bad thing is that they would have to stay in the town for longer than they'd have liked. Alycia was looking for work as a medic. As the new Greil mercenaries did not have such, Ike accepted the offer Alycia proposed. She would stay with the group for a few months unpaid so she could prove her skills to the group. After that she would be paid. Ike decided it would be wise to have a medic around. After all, Holly may have died if Alycia had not been there.

On one of the last days Alycia forced Holly to stay in bed, two mercenaries strode into town. Being a small town, our heroes noticed. Ike was drinking lemonade on the balcony with Mat, Chii, and Chris when he saw the figures walking into the town. Ike squinted at the figures, the rising sun at their backs. Ike stood and went back into the building. Chii watched the figures draw closer and saw Ike step outside and confront them. The mood of the conversation below did not seem hostile. Chii's interest was piqued so he went downstairs to see what was going on. Ike was now sitting at a table in the dining room with the two men. Chii walked into the room and sat down in a chair at the table.

"Hey, Chii this is Shinon and Gatrie. They were members of the Greil mercenaries. They left before you, your sister, and Furu joined. Guys, this is Chii. He was part of the group before the massacre. His sister, Holly, her friend, Furu and Chii were out on a little mission we'd sent them on, so they were spared. I was quite happy to find that they were safe." Ike said solemnly.

"So, what are you two doing here?" Chii asked.

"We could ask the same question of you." Shinon said quite bluntly. Chii studied the man. He was of medium height. An archer, with long red hair tied back. He had a slightly disgruntled look about him.

"Oh, come on, Shinon. This is the main road to Goldoa." The other man, Gatrie, said, with a disapproving look on his face. A knight, this man was taller than Shinon, and wider as well. This was partially due to the blue armor that he wore. His blonde hair was sticking up and he had a kind disposition. Chii sighed and stood. He excused himself and left the room. He walked back up to the veranda where Chris and Mat were chatting and sipping their lemonades.

"So who were they?" Mat asked when Chii sat in his chair once more.

"Some people Ike knew." Chii remarked.

"Oh." Mat sighed.

"It's been getting really warm during the day recently." Chris sighed. Chii sighed.

"I'm bored." Mat sighed.

"Yea." Chii replied. Cody strolled out the door sighing.

"I'm bored." He complained.

"Shut up." Chris sighed.

"Stop treating me like a prisoner!" Cody exclaimed.

"Shut up." Mat sighed.

"I'm serious, you all treat me like I'm being held captive." Cody sighed.

"You are being held captive and shut up." Chii sighed. Cody sighed and sat upon the floor.

"Well, you could at least give me some lemonade." Cody said.

"Fine. You can have some." Chii said.

"But it's downstairs." Mat finished. Cody stood up and stalked off.

"What a retard." Chris sighed.

"Could you pour me some more?" Mat handed Chii his glass.

"Sure." Chii poured lemonade into the glass and returned it. The pitcher was set down next to three clean, empty glasses. Cody stomped back outside.

"Old woman Pinako said that you guys have it up here!" He said, angrily.

"We do." Chii said. "Want some?" Cody sighed and nodded. Chris poured him a glass and handed it to him.

"Thanks." Cody muttered, sitting down on the floor.

"You can sit in the chair… You're not a dog." Mat sighed. Cody stood and sat in the vacant chair.

Inside, Furu, Alycia, and Chibi were chatting in low voices. Holly was sleeping happily in her bed.

"Have you seen the way he looks at her?" Alycia smiled.

"No, I, unlike some, do not spend my time watching Ike." Furu replied.

"Well, he always looks at her when she talks, like he has nothing else to do in the world then look at her." Alycia smiled.

"Hey, you know I have noticed that I can be talking to him yet he's looking at her." Chibi replied.

"I'm telling you, we're going to see some romance here." Alycia almost giggled.

"Right." Furu laughed and wondered over to a portrait that was hanging on the wall.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Holly sat up and ruffled her hair. She yawned.

"Nothing." Alycia smiled.

"I heard you say purple and white painting smocks."1 Holly said, looking confused.

"You must have been dreaming." Furu said, walking over to Holly's bed and giving Holly a hug.

"Oh well." Holly sighed. "You're sure I can't go outside?" Holly whined.

"No." Alycia sighed. "You can't."

"That stinks." Holly huffed.

"It'll be ok." Furu sighed and smiled at her friend. There was a knock at the door. Alycia stood and answered it. It was Ike.

"Can I come in?" He asked kindly.

"Erm…" Alycia hesitantly turned her head to be sure Holly was covered and none of the girls' unmentionables were lying about. She nodded when she saw all was in order. She opened the door and Ike entered, bowing politely to all the females in the room.

"Hello, Ike." Chibi said.

"Hi." Furu sighed, moving away from Holly and going to brood by the painting again.

"Hello." Holly sighed.

"Greetings." Ike replied. "So, Alycia, are we getting out of here any time soon?" Ike chuckled slightly.

"Tomorrow." Alycia replied.

"Heeey. If I'm so close to being able to travel, then why can't I at least go outside and sit on the porch?" Holly whined. Alycia smiled.

"The village idiot is out there." Furu sighed. The whole room seemed to fill with an uncomfortable silence after Furu had said her bit. Holly sighed.  
Ike strolled out onto the porch and leaned against the rail as his chair had been taken. Everyone was silent. None of them had said a word since Cody came out to sit with them. The front door below closed and the two men strolled out.

"Hey." Ike called. Gatrie looked up.

"Hey." He called back.

"Would you guys be interested in rejoining the group?" Ike asked.

"NO." Shinon practically yelled.

"Well, then how about a duel?" Ike shouted.

"What?" Shinon asked, now somewhat confused.

"A duel! If I win, you rejoin. If you win I'll never bother you again."

"Sure! Anything to get rid of you." Shinon replied in an insulting tone.

"It's settled then! Stay put and I'll come to you." Ike said rather cheerfully (notice that Ike completely missed the insult). With this, Ike jumped off the roof and landed unnervingly close to his opponent.

"Remember your promise! When I beat you, you guys have to leave us alone forever." Shinon said seriously.

"Yep. Fine, fine." Ike said impatiently. "You want to start or should I?" Ike asked, now becoming serious. Shinon's answer was an arrow, which Ike dodged easily. "I see how it is!" Ike said jokingly. With this he ran forward and beat Shinon across the head with the flat of his sword. This was followed by about thirty seconds of obscenity from Shinon.

"I'm serious about this fight!" Shinon called angrily.

"So am I." Ike said, all of a sudden deadly serious. From the porch above, Chii said,

"It's scary how fast his moods can change…" They fought silently for several minutes until Ike slashed Shinon across the shin with his sword. This caused more obscenity. They continued until Ike finally brought Shinon down with a good kick to the inside of his knee.

"Ow…" Shinon sighed forlornly.

"Had enough yet?" Ike said cheerfully.

"NO!" Shinon shouted and got to his feet. He promptly fell over because of his previous shin wound. "YOU PLANNED THIS!" he said, fully screaming now.

"You made a bet." Ike said tauntingly.

"…" Shinon was completely silent now. He looked as if he might start crying. "FINE!" he said.

Early the next morning, Ike awoke everyone and they reluctantly set out down the road to Goldoa. Shinon mumbled to himself for nearly an hour before he shut up entirely and the merry conversation that the group was used to began.


	8. Chapter 8

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem!

Chapter 8: The Fire Mage Awakens!

It was nearly 4:00 in the afternoon when our favorite group found themselves in the parlor of a wise looking old woman. They'd been on the road for three days, and finally, they were in Goldoa. They were at the home of the woman who had raised Chibi. Tea sat untouched on the coffee table. Ten people were squashed into the tiny entertaining room. Holly was sitting upon Furu's lap on the only little couch in the room. Next to them were Alycia and Chii, sitting next to each other. Ike was sitting haphazardly on the arm of the chair next to Holly; Cody was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to a large armchair where Mat was sitting. Chris was perched on the other arm of the couch next to Chii, and Shinon and Gatrie were standing near the window. No one spoke but thoughts seemed to be exchanging throughout the room. It was slightly awkward, the old woman had answered the door, asked them all in when she recognized Chibi, and then sat them all in the parlor with some tea. After that, she just went with Chibi into the kitchen, saying she had to have a private word. It had been nearly five minutes and no one had spoken yet. Cody stood and walked to the coffee table.

"I'm getting some tea." He said.

"Idiot." Furu muttered. Ike looked at Holly.

"Would anyone else like some tea?" He asked to the room but was still gazing at Holly. No one said anything. Holly shook her head 'no' and Ike took to staring out the window. Cody went to sit back down by Mat.

"Someone say something." Cody sighed.

"What if we don't want to, idiot." Chii replied.

"Chii. Don't call him an idiot to his face." Ike said offhandedly.

"So he can call me an idiot behind my back?" Cody protested. Ike just nodded then looked down at his hands. Shinon was laughing quietly the whole time. Chii poked one of the biscuits that were near the tea.

"Looks good enough for me." He stated then grabbed it and bit it. "Not bad." He sighed.

"This tea's pretty good." Cody said. Alycia poured herself tea.

"Yea, he's right for once, guys." She replied after sipping it. In the next few moments, everyone got a little cup filled with tea.

"I wonder what's taking so long." Mat sighed.

"Chibi wouldn't tell me what her master had called her about." Holly stated, sipping her tea.

"Maybe she didn't know herself." Chris said.

"These are nice curtains." Gatrie said. Everyone laughed. Gatrie had been hoping to break the tension.

"While we're here, I wanted to talk to the military leader. Maybe we could do a job for them or something." Ike sighed.

"That's boring, Ike. I want to see what kind of shopping you can do here." Holly smiled. Ike laughed and rolled his eyes. Holly bopped him playfully on the top of his head with her fist.

"Be nice." She smiled.

"Fine." He sighed. Holly turned round, put her feet in Chii's lap, her knees in Alycia's lap, and her head in Ike's. He turned a slight shade of pink but when Holly looked up into his bright blue eyes, he laughed and smiled. Chii shoved Holly's feet from his lap. Holly sat up angrily.

"Holly's a dooope!" Cody sang to break the silence.

"What did you say?" four people said at the same time.

"Err... nothing?" Cody hid behind his cup of tea. Holly, Chii, Ike, and Furu glared at him before sighing.

"Cody's a Retardeder Beatle!" Furu laughed.

"What's a Retardeder Beatle?" Alycia asked.

"Cody." Furu replied.

"Oooh." Alycia seemed enlightened. They went on talking and drinking tea for quite a long time. Eventually, a child came into the room with a fresh pot of tea. Soon after, the old woman left the kitchen with Chibi at her elbow.

"Ok everybody. We're finished talking. Chibi has agreed to stay here with me and learn more magic, so don't worry about her."

"Hmmm…" Ike seemed troubled. "I was rather hoping the she could join our company. A mage would make a fine addition to our ranks since Sohren was killed all those years ago with everybody else."

"As much as I would like to join you, I'm afraid I must stay here," Chibi said rather apologetically.

"Well, It's your call." Ike said. "I guess we should be going then… Ike said rather depressed. The group walked from the house and grouped up outside.

"So, where do we go from here?" Gatrie asked Ike. Before Ike could reply, an arrow went past his head and through a window in the old lady's house.

"Where are they?" Ike shouted. "Take cover!" They all began to scatter as several more arrows rained down and narrowly missed Chii and Ike. The third bounced off Matt's armor.

"Across the street! On the roof tops!" Chii shouted. Everyone turned in time to see a massive rain of arrows come flying across the street.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Cody screamed. Chii tripped him just in time to stop his head being riddled with holes. "Wait! Did you just…?"

"No I didn't." Chii replied rather coldly. "I saved you because you haven't been useful yet."

"What…but…" Cody stammered. He sighed and gave up.

Meanwhile, nearby, Ike was saying "Shinon! Get up here! We have to return fire!"

"Don't order me around!" Shinon said hotly. He stepped up and started firing anyway. Everyone else hid in the shadows while Shinon picked off the archers, one by one. After about five had fallen from the roof, everyone made ready to leave the shadows and charge across the street when Chibi came from the house.

"Wait! Don't go out there! You'll all just be killed." Chibi said to the group in general. "The arrow that went through the window… It… It killed my master! I have no choice. I must join your group now."

"I'm sorry about your master. I am glad to have you along." Ike said. Holly gave an evil glare to the back of his head. "We need ranged attackers right at the moment."

Chibi smiled at this. "I think I can help you there. I think it is time for you to know what my master was talking to me about. She translated the text in the back of my magic book and I can use a very powerful spell. Unfortunately, I can only use it a precious few times. It will eventually wear out my book." Everyone looked at her and pretended to look like they understood. "Never mind" Chibi said rather embarrassedly. With this she turned and sent a blast of fire at the rooftop.

"Hey!" Ike cried. "We don't want to burn the buildings!" She either didn't hear or ignored him. She kept shooting fire at the buildings until the structure was completely charred.

"Ummmm… Hey!" Chii said rather timidly. "I think they're all dead now…"

"Don't count on it." Shinon said sarcastically. They all looked across the street and saw hundreds of soldiers flowing out from the surrounding buildings.

Chibi sighed. "I was hoping I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this…" With that she opened her book to the back and read a short incantation. At that moment, a great red cloud formed over the mob of soldiers. The rush was halted. All the soldiers stopped at looked at the sky. When they all began to advance again, a pillar of fire fell from the cloud and lit them all aflame. The flame burned for several minutes. By the time the holocaust of fire ended, only about twenty soldiers were left.

"Wow…" Cody said in awe.

"Shut up…" Chii said also awed, but annoyed as well. "I guess we can handle them now."

"Right!" Chris said with a grin. And without awaiting the order, everybody rushed forward with a yell. All of the enemy soldiers carried swords, but their leader had a vicious looking lance. Already frightened by the pillar of flame, the enemies offered little resistance. Chii and Chris rushed into a group of soldiers far too large, and had to fall back most of the way through them. Holly, Ike, and Chibi attacked a group far too small and had to finish Chii and Chris's group. Bernaki, Furu, and Alycia went for the leader. Cody hid behind a column with his knees knocking together.

When all the enemies were destroyed, they gathered.

"Good job, guys." Ike said.

"Chibi, I know your master was like your mom…" Holly said, walking toward Chibi. "We're all very sorry for you." She sighed.

"I think I'll be alright. Master was a great mage and a great woman. If I could… stay awhile, you know, to set her affairs in order…" Chibi paused.

"Of course." Ike said kindly. "We'll stay as long as you need…" He offered.

"You wouldn't have to stay. I know you run a business…that you need to attend to." Chibi sighed. "I know how to get back."

"No, you mustn't travel alone." Holly sighed.

"No." Ike agreed. Everyone else in the group agreed. "I'm sure we can find a job here anyways."

"Yes." Chii agreed.

"Thank you so much." Chibi smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem. Still…

Chapter 9: On the Road Again!

The funeral was held on a rainy Monday afternoon. The entire mercenary group attended as well as her family and friends. By Tuesday, they were back on the road.

"On the road again." Cody sang the song that goes with the title.

"Don't sing." Furu sighed.

"You're not good at it." Alycia continued.

"And we don't wanna hear it." Holly laughed.

"Besides, we're all tired." Chii smiled.

"Cody, you do need to calm down." Mat smirked.

"It's early." Chris mumbled.

"No, it's not." Ike said cheerily.

"Its only four in the morning." Shinon grumbled sarcastically.

"And we didn't sleep much last night." Chibi chimed in.

"I have to say something." Gatrie smiled.

They walked along at a sleepy pace until noon. They ate lunch on a white and red-checkered blanket that Chibi's master had planned to serve a picnic lunch on for Chibi's friends the day she died. Now they talked happily in the noon sun. The road was emanating dust toward them, but it wasn't noticed. Holly accidentally spilled grape juice on Ike's perfect white pants.

"Aw shhhh…" Ike exclaimed as he felt the ice cold liquid seeping into his pants.

"Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry." Holly gasped.

"Oh, it's alright… You just have to be more careful." Ike smiled kindly, his intense eyes smiling even though he would be purple for the rest of the trip.

"Quick, take your pants off and throw them in the lake!" Cody yelled. Everyone went quiet. His words resounded and a cricket could be heard.

"…" Ike said.

"…" Holly said.

"…" Everyone else said in unison.

"Are you gay?" Shinon asked in an accusing tone.

"No." Cody looked innocent. "It's what you do for stains."

"I'm **not** taking my pants off." Ike stated sternly.

"Your loss." Cody went back to his sandwich.

"I'll be fine. I have bleach at home." Ike smiled. Holly laughed. Everyone but Shinon pretended to be mildly amused. Lunch went well after that and they were back on the road. The next few days were boring as the days the trip took on the way to Goldoa. The new members were slightly eager to see the castle or home base. Well, Alycia was anyway. Holly described it to her in great detail, using adjectives such as beautiful and serene. The day they got back was a sunny and hot day. The lake sparkled beautiful blue in the sunlight. The castle had not been broken into while they'd been gone. Ike had been reluctant to leave anyone before as they were lacking in number, but now, he was sure next mission, someone would be staying behind. The mission Ike had in mind was a trek across the continent to the land of his home. They were escorting a prominent somebody to the next town over. They were paying well and Ike could visit the old home base. He already had it planned out who would go with him on the journey. He'd have to bring Cody. The busybody he is, Cody would most likely wreck the place. So, Ike would leave Chris and Chii. They were good friends and good fighters. Mat would stay as well. Shinon would go because he was their only ranged unit besides Chibi who would be staying. Alycia would have to go, as she was the medic. Holly would go because she would die of boredom with Chii and Chris. Furu could stay to keep Chibi company. Gatrie would go as the knight. It was a pretty well rounded team for both crews.  
With less people, they would travel more quickly and stealthily.

"Okay… HEY, CODY, WAKE UP!" Ike Shouted into the silence. Everyone was half asleep but Ike was insistent upon training. Cody did not stir. "Hmm… Mat, Gatrie, tie him to a tree. He'll learn to listen." Ike smiled.

"Right-o, chief." Mat smiled sadistically. When Cody was sleeping, tied to a large tree, Ike passed out buckets.

"Everyone fill your bucket with lake water and dump it on him on my signal." Ike smiled. Buckets were filled and all gathered around the tree. "On the count of three… One… Two… Three…" Ike raised his hand with a flourish and everyone dumped the water on Cody. Once the water was on the ground, he made a sound as if a pig had been beaten with a large stick.

"What… OH WHAT THE…" Cody tried to get away but was tied to the tree. Everyone laughed.

"That was for sleeping when we were about to start." Ike sighed.

"I didn't know we were starting." Cody mumbled.

"Now, you will remain there all day or until we all vote to let you go." Ike smiled. Holly whispered into Ike's ear and whatever she said made Ike smile widely. "That is a very good idea but lets train first." Ike laughed.

Ike again chose sparring partners. The match-ups were Shinon and Gatrie, Chris and Chii, Ike and Holly, and Mat and Furu. Alycia, Chibi, and Cody couldn't really benefit from sparring, so they were left to their own devices.

Shinon and Gatrie moved to a wide-open area near the lake. They stood facing each other without saying anything. Suddenly, still without a word, Gatrie lunged forward with his lance. Shinon quickly leapt back just avoiding the blunt tip. He raised and drew back his bow and in one smooth motion sent a blunt arrow towards his old friend. Gatrie, with his armor, was not able to move so quickly and was caught squarely in the chest by the rounded stone arrowhead. CLANG! Gatrie staggered back a step on impact, but quickly recovered. He rushed forward again and viciously swung the wooden lance. This time, it caught Shinon squarely in the side just as he drew his bow. This threw his aim off and the arrow caught Gatrie in the forehead instead of the torso. Shinon keeled over into the lake just as Gatrie was knocked unconscious by the stone arrow. Both men fell in a draw.

While Shinon and Gatrie were sparring, Chii was creeping through a thicket of trees, looking for Chris. His wooden sword was gripped tightly in both hands as he moved, silently, through the trees. He stopped cold when he heard a rustling in the bushes just ahead. Suddenly Chris's horse burst through the trees and bowled the surprised myrmidon over. At the same time, Chris jumped from the branches above with his wooden ax slicing down through the air. If the first, harsh blow had struck, it would have been over then and there. Chii saw Chris just in time and rolled to the side. His ax became embedded in the soil, and Chii gained his feet. When both fighters were back on their feet, Chii grinned, "That was pretty good. Too bad it didn't work."

"Well, I didn't really think I could get you that easily, but I had to try." Chris replied. Without any other conversation they began to circle. Chii rushed forward and swung a horizontal blow at chest height. Chris easily blocked it and continued the arc of his weapon upward. Chii stepped back just as the ax grazed his nose.

"Heyyy… you gave me a splinter!" Chii said in a joking tone. Chris just sighed and continued the fight. Chii sidestepped the downward swing and sliced down only to have Chris keep going and dive forward, causing him to miss. "Wow! I've never seen that one before. Did you just make that one up?" Chii said, still joking. Chris sighed again and said

"Will you please just get serious?" He then burst out laughing. Chii let him regain his feet and they continued. Both people were now starting to tire. Chii took a clumsy swing, which Chris parried. Chris took a last vicious swing upward and knocked the wooden sword from Chii's hand.

"Ahhhh… looks like I lost this one…." Chii said tiredly.

"How many is that now that I've won?" Chris asked in a mocking tone

"I believe that makes four." Chii said with a small chuckle. "Out of ten."

Near the back entrance to the castle, Ike and Holly were doing more talking than fighting. Every now and again somebody would swing at the other. Ike always parried and Holly usually did.

"You're definitely getting better, Holly." Ike said with a little nod.

"Am I? Well, I guess it was bound to happen someday." Holly replied, trying to hide her feeling of triumph at the compliment. She wasn't doing too well.

"The first time we trained, well, I guess we shouldn't talk about that." Ike said with a grin. Holly silently sulked for a moment then lashed out viciously at Ike with her wooden lance. It caught him by surprise and struck him in the knee. "Ow!" Ike shouted. He was now hopping up and down on one leg, holding his knee. "What was that for?" Ike said, somewhat surprised.

"We are still training, remember?" Holly said mockingly. When he put his leg back down Holly swung at him again. Expecting another low shot, he jumped. Right into her swing, which had gone over his head. When he fell he was unconscious.

Finally, Mat and Furu were fighting in a patch of fog that had just rolled in. Mat was swinging his lance about in the mist, looking for his opponent. Furu, on the other hand, had little armor on, and none of it metal. She was crouched down listening for the clank of Mat's armor. She could tell that he was heading away from her, so she silently coved up behind him and drew back her wooden sword to him in the back. Just before her blow fell, a great brown shape burst from the mist, bowling her over. Mat heard the commotion and turned with his lance trailing slightly. The momentum from his quick turn caused his lance to swing forward. It passed right over her head and struck the horse in the hindquarters. The horse let out a surprised cry and ran faster. Furu lay still on the ground, hoping he would overlook her and turn back around. No suck luck came here way though. With a small grin, he thrust his lance towards the ground and struck the ground next to her. She decided to give surprise up and swung viciously at his ankles. With a surprised cry, he leapt into the air and Furu regained her feet. Now that he could see his opponent, Mat took a vicious swing at his opponent just as she swung just as viciously at him. Their weapons struck and both fighters pushed against their weapon. As Mat began to push her weapon back, she braced it with her leather-padded knee. Mat's lance began to bend. Furu's sword began to groan. Then both weapons smashed themselves into splinters. Both of them fell to the ground, laughing.

Shinon climbed from the water, wet and shivering. He nudged Gatrie's head slightly with his foot.

"Unconscious." He mumbled, scoffing. He grabbed a bucket and filled it with water. Splash! Gatrie woke up with a start.

"Thanks." Gatrie said sarcastically.

"No problem." Shinon smiled, picking up his bow.

Chii and Chris walked together to the edge of the lake. Chris picked up a stone and threw it as hard as he could. It skipped all the way across the lake.

"Nice one." Chii picked up his own rock and threw it. It went just as far.

"Thanks." Chris threw another.

"Ike has really changed since the Greil mercenaries. Around the others, he was stern and he didn't let anyone see his human side. We all began to believe he didn't have a human side. But now, he's human, nice… Mischievous… it's just weird that's all." Chii sighed.

"Hmm… you know he was like that before you all came back too. He's all silent and withdrawn. It's really weird." Chris threw another stone.

"Maybe he's just happy to be able to order people around again." Chii shrugged.

"Yeah. Maybe." Chris replied.

Back close to the castle, Holly was quite worried about Ike.

"Iiiiiiike. Are you alright?" She asked. There was no sound he just lay there where he'd fallen. Cody had witnessed everything.

"Throw a bucket of water on him, you ditz." He sighed.

"Shut up, Cody." Holly said angrily.

"I'm just saying." Cody replied.

"You know what, you really make me angry." Holly sighed. "Ike?" Holly shook him.

"You make me really angry." Cody replied.

"I'm going to ignore you." Holly sighed, getting up and going inside. She returned with a washrag. She dipped it into the cold water of the lake and rung it upon Ike's face. Slowly, his eyes eased open. The first thing he saw was Holly staring at him worriedly.

"Holly?" Ike mumbled, wiping his face dry.

"I knocked you out with my lance." She said, blushing. "I'm so sorry." She said. Ike sat up.

"No, it's alright; I should've had my guard up." He smiled.

"Aww!" Cody cooed. "Princess charming awakens her lovely prince."

"Shut up." Ike sighed. Cody had ruined the moment.

"You know what, Ike? I think Cody would look good with pigtails, don't you?" She grinned evilly.

"You know, Holly? I think you're right." Ike replied.

"Uh oh." Cody said quietly.

"You go get the brush and ponytail holders while I keep him still." Ike smiled.

"Alright. You stay right there, Cody. I'll be right back." She smiled.

When she returned, she carried a bunch of little sparkly pink rubber bands.

"Ready, Ike?" Holly grinned.

"Whenever you are." He replied.

Soon, Cody's hair was up in about a zillion little ponytails. He was cringing and yelling.

"Aww. How nice you look." Holly smiled.

"I'll call the others, they've got to see this." Ike replied.

"Here. Look in the mirror." Holly held up a mirror. Cody cringed at the sight. Everyone came strolling up to the tree. A bout of laughter began and did not trail off for several minutes.

Back in the forest, Furu and Mat had just finished laughing and were now finding their way back to the castle.

"Furu, do you remember the day Chris and I saved you guys?" Mat asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Well, you're skill level has greatly improved since then, I can tell." He smiled.

"Oh, you're just saying that." Furu blushed.

"No, I'm serious. With a little more experience, you could be great." Mat smiled. Suddenly, Chii ran up to them.

"Guys, come quick, back at the castle… Cody… well, I'll let you see for yourselves." Chii laughed. The trio ran back to the tree where they met everyone else. That was when the laughing began.

"Aww, maybe now we can find him a boyfriend in the village." Furu laughed.

"Nah. Let's be nice… He could at least pick up a girl." Mat chimed in.

"I guess, if she was desperate." Alycia sighed.

"Or blind." Shinon pointed out.

Eventually, Cody was untied and he rushed inside to pull out the little pink rubber bands. At dinner…

"Alright. I picked up this assignment last week in Goldoa. We've got to go to Crimea and escort a wealthy politician to his destination." Ike announced.

"That's how we first ran into you again, Ike." Holly stated.

"Maybe it's some sort of an omen." Chii said.

"Well, in any case, I've decided to entrust some of you to stay behind and guard the castle. Would you like to know your assignments now?" He asked.

"Yes." They all agreed.

"Alright, I will lead the expeditionary force. Assisting me will be Cody, Shinon, Alycia, Holly, and Gatrie. The rest will stay behind and guard the castle. We move out tomorrow at dawn. I expect you to be ready by then." Ike said in his commanding voice. Presently, everyone went to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: -dances- I don't own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 10: Leuchtkäfer

"Mat, I want to leave you in charge of the Castle Defense Force." Ike said to Mat early the next morning.

"Me?" Mat asked, surprised.

"Yes. You've really improved since we began our group. I see fit to upgrade you to General as well, you've really done a great job, Mat." Ike smiled.

"Uh… well… I… don't know what to say." Mat stuttered, totally surprised by Ike's words.

"Thank you will suffice." Ike grinned.

"OH! Thank you Ike, it's a great honor." Mat smiled.

"I've left your new armor in your room, so you can wear it next time you need it. I'm depending upon you to defend our castle while I'm away." Ike said solemnly, walking off.

In the kitchen, everyone was sitting about the large table eating cereal or something.

"I geeeet to goooo!" Cody sang mockingly.

"Shut up, it's only because I can't trust you to stay." Ike walked in smiling. Cody shut up.

In a few hours, the expeditionary group was on the road. Cody was complaining at full steam about not having a horse again, and of course, Holly had invited Ike to ride along with her. Cody was super-angry about this and wouldn't shut up. No one else really seemed to care. They were still half-asleep. Ike was asleep on Holly's shoulder. Alycia was walking next to the slowly treading Pegasus. Cody, Shinon, and Gatrie were walking three abreast in front of Holly, Ike, and Alycia. Holly was chatting away at Alycia who wasn't listening. Holly couldn't really believe Ike was asleep. Before he was the head of the Greil mercenaries, he would sleep until 10:00 but after he'd joined, he began to be more of a morning person. And yet, he was the only one fully asleep. Cody couldn't believe Holly was the only one aware of anything and she wasn't paying attention to him, she was just chatting to Alycia who wasn't chatting back. That had to be boring. He would listen to what she had to say. Stupid girl. Once the sun was up, everyone seemed to come back to life. Alycia began chatting with Holly as she usually does, and Holly was pleased. It wasn't much fun talking to a walking zombie. Ike woke up and participated in Holly and Alycia's conversation. Shinon silenced Cody. Gatrie began to talk with Shinon and Cody afterward. The team Ike had selected got along quite well for the first few hours. Cody began to complain again once the sun had reached the peak of its ascent and began its descent. They stopped to eat lunch.

"Who made these sandwiches? They're delicious." Ike asked.

"Holly and I made them." Alycia smiled.

"I'm glad you like them." Holly smiled.

"I don't like them." Cody said dejectedly.

"Stop being a butt, Cody." Alycia laughed.

"Yeah. They are good." Gatrie said, punching Cody lightly on the arm.

"Not the best I've eaten, but they're not the worst either." Shinon stated flatly.

The scenery around their picnic blanket was quite calm. Trees were swaying gently in the breeze and every now and again, a small animal would rush by. Birds chirped their merry tune and went about their birdie business. The day was warm but not hot or muggy. It was one of those days you wish would last forever.

Holly was watching a little bunny hop by and listening to Alycia and Ike debate about sandwiches when she heard a sharp crunching of twigs. No one heard it. Then again the ominous crunching struck.

"Guys…" Holly whispered ever so quietly. "I think there's someone in the bushes over…" She continued once she had Ike and Alycia's attention. Cody was still arguing with Shinon. But she was cut off before she could finish. There was a loud crash and about ten bandits landed on the ground from their spots in the trees. They formed a group and drew their weapons.

"Hand over all your supplies and… that girl." The lead bandit pointed at Holly. "And no one gets hurt." Ike motioned for everyone to stand.

"You really have no idea who we are do you? Leave us and we'll spare your lives." Ike said solemnly. Everyone drew their weapons.

"Ha, its ten to five you blue haired pansy." The lead bandit laughed.

"Its ten to six." Ike said.

"And he's not a pansy." Holly chimed in.

"Well, we have no choice but to take you out." Gatrie said.

"Prepare to die!" Shinon said.

"Yes, thank you." Ike said. "My words exactly. Take them out." Ike gave the order to attack and Shinon, Gatrie, Holly, and Ike rushed forward. Ike, Shinon, and Gatrie all did very well, but Holly was having a bit of a hard time with these men, as most of them were archers. She didn't want to get close but she didn't want to hang back and watch. Shinon took some damage and Alycia rushed forward to heal him. Most of them were taken out by the time Cody decided to join the fray. Holly resolved to just stay back, for archers could injure her seriously. By the time Cody reached the front there was one bandit left running for his life. Cody tried to catch him, but he was too slow. Shinon just sighed and shot the bandit in the back.

"He was mine!" Cody shouted irritably. Shinon laughed at this and said

"In another thirty seconds, he'd have been gone, genius." Cody wisely decided not to press the issue and began to sulk.

"Is everyone alright?" Ike asked, looking around to make sure no one was seriously hurt. "Then lets pack up and move out." He sighed. When they'd been on the road for several more hours, the light blue sky had turned dusky pink and the air grew cool. Ike decided they'd better set up camp for the night.

"Lets find a nice safe place to sleep, its getting dark." Ike said out of the silence that had been hovering over the group for the last half-hour.

"Look, there's a nice clearing." Gatrie pointed to an empty spot among the thick trees.

"That's as good as any." Ike said, walking toward the spot. Holly, Alycia, Cody, Shinon, and Gatrie followed. Holly's Pegasus was tied to a nearby tree and the tents were un-packed. Alycia and Holly set up their tent easily; they worked together well and were finished in ten minutes. Since Ike had no choice but to share a tent with Cody, they took fifty more minutes then Holly and Alycia to set up their tent… Mainly because Cody knocked it over more then ten times. Shinon and Gatrie put up their tent in fifteen minutes. When Ike and Cody were finished, Gatrie, Shinon, Alycia, and Holly were sitting around a lovely fire they'd started. Ike took a seat next to Holly and Cody sat a good distance from Shinon. Fireflies lit in the distance among the trees. They sat in silence, listening to the bugs and the fire and the cool breeze.

"They're beautiful." Holly sighed, enthralled by the little lights in the night. No one answered. One by one, everyone retired to their tents. Holly felt Alycia had something to do with it. Finally, Ike and Holly sat alone. Silence…

"Ike…" Holly's voice seemed so loud in the quiet night.

"Hmm?" Was his reply.

"All this stuff with Chibi's master made me think about my mom." She said, her voice quieter now.

"Really? What happened to her? You never told me." Ike prompted politely.

"She died, along with my dad… In a raid." Holly said simply. The words were plain enough on their own but the way she said them, it cut through Ike like a red-hot knife. The picture of a kind woman crept into Ike's mind. A picture he hadn't seen in a long time. It was his mother. Her kind eyes smiled at him lovingly. A song came back to him, one he hadn't heard in a long time. He must have had a far away look upon his face at that point because Holly was now calling his name with a worried voice. Ike cleared his head.

"Are you ok, Ike?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He said quietly.

"What happened?" Holly asked.

"No… it was nothing." Ike smiled. "What a horrible way to lose your parents." He mused.

"I feel the worst for my brother. He watched the whole thing go down." Holly's face grew more and more troubled as she went on.

"No child should have to watch that." Ike said sympathetically.

"I guess we should be thankful we're alive. You and I have had many close calls." Holly sighed. Ike nodded.

"We are quite lucky. Look at all those good people who want to help us, who want to fight by my side. How can I be anything but thankful?" Ike smiled at Holly. "Thank you… for being part of my mercenary group. This would never work without you guys." He smiled. Holly blushed.

"Well, we could never do this without you." Holly smiled. "You really do hold our group together quite well." Now it was Ike's turn to be a little embarrassed.

"Thanks." He smiled. Silence reigned yet again. They watched the fireflies for a minute before Holly spoke.

"The fireflies… She used to say that inside every one, there lives a memory, a good memory. That's why… they light up." Holly smiled. Ike didn't know what to say. She turned to face him. "We'll be fine. We've all got each other. I think that's what holds us together… not having anyone else in the world to live for… I'm going to live for you, Ike." She sighed. Ike still didn't know what to say; yet Holly understood. "Good night, Ike. I'll see you tomorrow." Holly stood. Ike sat there still slightly stunned.

"Sweet dreams." He replied.


	11. Chapter 11

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 11: Il Cielo Stellato Di Notte

"It's endless." Chii mused as the small group sat around a campfire outside the castle that night. They were looking up at the sky.

"It's beautiful." Chibi sighed.

"It's mysterious." Mat said.

"SNORE!" was the sound Chris made.

"It makes me dizzy." Furu sighed, she turned her head downward and more toward Earth. The fire was almost burned out. Five hotdog-roasting sticks were strewn about on the ground, and the crickets were chirping happily.

"Just think, Ike and Holly and Alycia and everyone else could be looking at the same sky right now." Chibi smiled, she too now was looking at the fire rather than the sky.

"Yep… OH! Hey, guys, did I forget to tell you? Ike promoted me to General!" Mat smiled now at Furu as he said this.

"Congratulations." Chibi and Chii said together.

"That was well timed." Chii laughed.

"Mhmm." Chibi agreed.

"That's great news, Mat!" Furu smiled.

"Thanks. I was a little surprised at first…" Mat admitted.

"Well, it was bound to happen." Furu smiled.

"You really think so?" Mat asked. Furu nodded.

"I'll go get my armor so I can show you." Mat stood excitedly.

"Okay." Furu smiled.

"SNORE!" Chris made another disturbing sound. Mat was gone momentarily, when he returned, he was wearing shiny silver armor. Furu, Chibi, and Chii clapped. At that moment, a flaming arrow flew into the little ring of seats and stuck into the end of the log Chris was sitting upon. Chris would have kept right on sleeping if everybody hadn't started to yell at him.

"Hmmm…?" Chris said tiredly "What's all the commotion about?"

"Enemies from the forest! We're under attack!" Mat yelled at the people around the fire. Not one was more than ten feet away. Then the first of them stepped into the firelight. He wore an unmarked black uniform and carried a long, slender sword.

"It's a Katana! Only master swordsman can wield them! It is also rumored that they are indestructible!" Chii said in awe.

"Smart boy." The man said cynically. "I'm afraid you all must die. Come on out!" He shouted into the forest. Two dozen black clad men crept from the forest with swords like their leader's.

"Sensei! Are we all required to defeat such a small number?"

"Stop your questioning! Kill them all!" The leader snarled at the unfortunate soldier. They all charged forward without another word.

"Stay close to the fire!" Mat shouted "They can obviously see better than we can in the dark. Don't give them another advantage!" The five mercenaries circled with their backs to the fire. It seemed that no one came for an eternity that was in reality about thirty seconds. Then they came. The first few came before the main group and were rapidly cut to pieces. With their numbers reduced by about five, the main group was more cautious. They circled the edge of the firelight, waiting. Finally, Chii broke the silence.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick of waiting. I'm going, and I'm not going alone." He turned to look at his friends and they all agreed to go from the firelight's protection. At first, their enemies were stunned. Five of them went down before they recovered. Then, the remaining fourteen soldiers circled the mercenaries with their swords ready. Before they had a chance to attack, the five mercenaries rushed outward and took another five. With nine soldiers left, they decided to attack before any more died. Mat waded through them with his new armor protecting him. Chii sliced at them stealthily, from the shadows. Chibi stayed back and threw fire into the chaos. Furu and Chris simply rode through taking as many enemies as they could. No mercenaries took serious wounds, but they were all hurt slightly. When only the ninja master was left, Chii spoke up.  
"He's mine. Leave him to me." Everyone looked at him with surprise. "This is my…test. Leave him to me." Nobody spoke, but slowly retreated until the two faced each other alone.

"It's you again, the boy who knew the word for our swords. It was foolish of you to have your friends retreat. I thought surely I would die here. I see now that my luck has turned, and I can escape when you are dead." The master said to Chii. Chii gave no reply but simply attacked. Though the enemy was more skilled and with a better sword, Chii was more cautious and shrewd. The battle was drawn out with neither person taking much damage until…

"Very good! I never expected you to put up such a fight. I will be honored to take your sword as a trophy." The ninja said cockily. Chii still made no reply but pressed the attack instead. Then it came to him. The trick Chris had used in the forest… a diversion. Then he saw a dead tree behind his enemy that was hanging on by only a few dead roots. He dodged behind the ninja and sliced the roots with a quick stroke of his sword.

"What…?" his confused enemy started. He never got to finish as the giant tree crashed down on his head.

"Chii! Are you alright?" Mat's voice called from the quiet darkness that ensued.

"Yes… I am." Chii sighed, walking back into the ring of light coming from the now raging fire.

"That was a really good job you did out there." Mat sighed, sitting back down upon his log. No one had been injured during the battle and everyone was watching Chii sit down, he had a large gash on his forehead. Crimson blood was streaming down the side of his face and into his eye, he wiped at it every few minutes.

"Thank you." Chii sighed.

"You should clean up your head." Chibi remarked.

"Yeah." Furu echoed.

"I'm going to bed, guys." Chris said with an un-readable tone in his voice.

"Goodnight." Everyone said as Chris got up. Chii stood as soon as Chris was inside. He walked into the kitchen and dipped a rag into the dish of water on the counter. He washed his forehead carefully, wincing when the cloth touched the wound.

"Ow… Man, that was tough." Chii said to himself.

Outside, Everyone was silent. The crickets chirped sullenly under the still, bright sky. The melancholy shadow of the building cast from the moon fell upon the three remaining comrades. The unstated thought circulated through the three minds.

"We're going to have to burn them." Mat sighed finally. Furu and Chibi nodded. They set about the task of cremating the corpses. They watched as the smoke curled upward into the starry night sky.


	12. Chapter 12

FIRE EMBLEM: THE ELEMENT MAGES

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 12: Le Marais Allume

"What do you think makes it light up like that?" Holly asked Ike as the company of mercenaries strode along yet another dirt road. Their way was illuminated by an eerie green light. The sun had set nearly an hour ago but as no one was tired and the road was so well lit, they trod on. It was the sort of night upon which one might expect a monstrous creature to emerge from the swamp grass.

"It's caused by the phosphorus content in the water which, when exposed to oxygen, creates an eerie glow." Ike said matter-of-factly. Holly smiled at him and laughed lightly.

"Only a freak would know that." Cody mumbled. Alycia heard and hit him upside the head.

"Shut up. You're just jealous." She laughed.

"Cooody is jealous of Hoooolly!" Gatrie laughed.

"No I am not!" Cody fumed. Shinon walked behind the group with a look of despair on his face.

Leading the group, Holly and Ike had barely heard any of their bickering. Even though they had been walking along in silence.

"Is anyone ready to settle in for the night?" Ike asked.

"No, not really." Alycia replied. She had the agreement of the rest of the mercenaries. "The lights are really fascinating." She sighed.

"Be careful not to look at them too long, they might drag you in." Cody snickered.

"No, they're going to drag you in because you're so annoying." Alycia replied angrily.

"It's one of those nights you expect to see a swamp creature or a Will 'O' the Wisp." Holly shivered.

"What's a Willy of the Wisk?" Cody asked curiously.

"It's a Will 'O' the Wisp. According to legend, it's a ball of fire that floats about in dense woods. It compels the person who sees it to follow it into the heart of the wood. Supposedly, the person will get lost and starve to death in the bowls of the forest or if they ignore it, it will burn them to a crisp." Ike said, continuing his intelligent spree. Holly shivered again, only more violently this time. "Are you cold, Holly?" Ike asked.

"No. I've just been frightened to death by those ever since my brother told me about them a few years ago." She sighed.

"I wouldn't worry." Ike smiled. "We're all together. If we get lost, we'll be able to find our way. Besides, its only a legend." He laughed.

"Yeah." Holly echoed.

They walked on together like that for nearly a mile when Holly spotted a light floating down the path nearly half a mile ahead. She gave a little scream and shouted hysterically, "Look! Just up the path, there's a light! Ike, you don't think it could be a…" she couldn't finish the sentence. Ike looked stunned for a moment and then said

"It…it can't be…it's just a legend…that's all…just a legend…" in a dazed tone. Then Gatrie added to the growing panic by adding, "Don't look at it! We'll get lost in the swamp grass!" Cody put in,

"NO! Then we'll all be burnt to a crisp!" He shouted in an equally hysterical manner. Shinon, ever the voice of reason, said,

"Wait a second. There's too many of us! It couldn't get us ALL lost! And it certainly couldn't burn us all at once! Stop panicking! Ike just said they only live in FORESTS!" He was quite angry and nearly hysterical himself (a rare display of emotion for him) by the end of his speech. They all agreed that this had to be the answer and walked on. They never gave any thought to what else it could be, only to the fact that it wasn't a mythical ball of fire. They had almost come into sight of the light's master when a rustling sound came from the swamp grass. This caused another wave of panic and hysteria. Alycia jumped back and shouted, "In the grass! Left side of the path!" and everybody whirled around to face to the left and began their hysteria anew.

"It's a swamp thing!" Cody shouted. Ike drew his sword, Shinon drew his bow, Cody jumped behind Holly and Gatrie fell over. Shinon, not bothering to reason this time, fired an arrow blindly into the grass and received a muffled cry.

"Wait!" Ike shouted. "That was human! That's no swamp creature!" Everybody lowered their weapons a little at this, but none of them dropped them to their sides. Shinon put another arrow on the bowstring as he called,

"Come out, or I'll shoot you again!"

"Shinon!" Gatrie said in disbelief. "You just shot someone who could have been completely innocent! He may not be able to move and you're threatening him again!"

"Shut up!" Shinon yelled harshly. "If he was innocent he would have walked up and called out. He wouldn't have been lying in wait in the swamp grass."

"Ummmmm…" Gatrie said knowing he'd been outwitted. "I guess you're right…But it I could have been right!" He said lamely. Before there was any more discussion, the light rushed forward and fell to the ground. A lantern shattered and went out as it was dropped in favor of a weapon handle. The swamp grass was roughly parted and several men spilled out, one of them with an arrow in his throat. That man quickly became the first casualty as he fell on his face in the eerie green glow of the water. Thus, the battle in the swamp commenced, the combatants fighting by the glow of the swamp lights.

"Hah!" Shinon gave a short barking laugh. "Even firing blind, my arrows are still the most accurate!" He cried with a note of triumph in his voice. They fought against garishly attired men in the narrow road who had obviously not made an attempt to disguise their presence. The enemy carried an assortment of weapons, axes, bows, swords, and lances. In spite of their great number, there were no mages. The would-be assassins were obviously poorly trained and fell easily to the battle-hardened mercenary's weapons. When the battle was nearly over, a man in a large robe, who Ike assumed to be a bishop, stepped into the glow of the phosphorus with a tiger muzzled and chained.

"You seem to have done quite well against our HUMAN assassins, but let's see how you fare against BEAST assassins shall we?" The man sneered smugly. He raised his hand, and when it fell a beam of light incinerated the beast's chains and revealed about ten more in the keeping of the garishly clad assassins behind him. Finding that they were free, the beasts promptly destroyed their handlers.

"NOOOOO!" The bishop cried in terror as a particularly nasty looking tiger overtook him and shredded though robe and flesh with its razor claws. With the annoying keepers dealt with, the beasts turned to the mercenaries in the road.

"Uh oh…" Gatrie said dubiously as be backed away.

"This…is not good…" Shinon agreed as he also backed away.

"…" Said the others as the also began to back away from the beast warriors.

"These are Gallians…" Ike finally said, "We're allied with them…why would they try to kill us?" Ike asked nobody in particular. There was no reply. There was only the roar from the beasts as they rushed forward. Ike and Holly stood in front of Alycia fighting off about three of the beasts. Gatrie had two of the beasts on him while Shinon fired in arrows from a distance. Cody was following Gatrie, taking advantage of his massive armor to protect himself from the tigers. He had tried to hide behind Alycia, but she had hit him upside the head. Even though they fought well and efficiently, none of them came away with less than two wounds. Alycia and Cody, having the lowest health of the group, were both near death while the others probably could have taken on another three tigers. The silence that ensued the harsh battle was deafening. Even the bugs and the other sounds of the night had stopped. All that could be heard was the rough breathing of the mercenaries.

"Is everyone alright?" Ike asked after a moment. Everyone indicated that they were indeed alive. "Let's set up camp just down there." Ike pointed down the road a ways further. When the tents were set up, and the wounds were tended to, everyone bid another good night. The glowing swamp lights illuminating the otherwise pitch black night.


End file.
